Wanted By You

by Steph Nuss

  I smiled at her last comment. "I just can't screw this up, H."

  "What makes you think you're going to? In all my years of being your sister, I've never seen you screw up with the ladies."

  Again, she was right. I'd never been turned down before and maybe that was my problem. Maybe that was the reason I still hadn't called Elly yet. I’d never felt the hurtful sting of rejection, and if the first pinch came from her, I knew I'd never be the same. In the back of my mind, I kept replaying Monday and how good it felt to see her in the flesh. Not in a memory or a photograph, but with my own two eyes, right in front of me, radiant like always. A tingling sensation rushed over me as I remembered seeing her again. The way she bit at her bottom lip, her teeth pressing hard into the soft, plump skin; the way her nipples hardened underneath her dress and her crossed legs clenched tighter together upon seeing me—it was all new to me. During college she had never reacted to me that way. Now she appeared more confident, though still discreet, revealing just how aroused she was but controlling it at the same time. I had to see if she'd react that way again. I had to call her. After Justin gave me her number and threatened to kick my ass, at least I knew she wasn't seeing anybody, and that was a huge relief. "She just means a lot to me."

  Harper slipped her hands into the back pockets of her jeans and shrugged. "Just tell her how you feel. If there was a guy out there who wanted me as much as you want Elly, I'd want him to tell me."

  I nodded and smiled up at her weakly. "Thanks."

  "No, thank you. You're my only hope for nieces and nephews. It's not like Bayler's going to be settling down any time soon, and I want babies to spoil."

  "You know, you can make your own babies. You have all the parts. Just find a guy."

  She rolled her eyes as if I was kidding and leaned against the doorframe. "Exactly. First I need to find the guy. Then we need to fall in love and have our dream wedding and then give birth to our beautiful babies. But right now I'm single and I'm almost thirty. You're my only hope at seeing a happily ever after come true in the near future. Get to it, Romeo."

  "Romeo didn't have a happily ever after," I shouted, as she walked out the door. The last guy I wanted to be right now was Romeo. That fucker died all because he thought Juliet was dead when she wasn’t. I didn't want to be that guy anymore, the one who thought without knowing. I wanted to know where I stood with Elly before I did something stupid.

  * * *

  Later that evening, I walked into the kitchen and pulled open the fridge door, peering in at the only two items in it: beer and apples. I should've gone to the store after work and bought food. I ordered a pizza and cracked open a beer as I waited for it.

  I walked back into the living room, sat on the couch and glanced over at the open and unopened boxes still scattered throughout my living room. Fuck, I hated packing and unpacking. With Bayler's help, though, each box was labeled, so I could see that all I had left to unpack were electronics and wall decorations.

  I got up from the couch and decided to unpack my DVD collection. I carried the box over to the large shelf against the wall and set it down. I ripped off the tape and then sat down and started placing the DVDs in alphabetical order onto the shelves.

  I had a large movie collection ranging from thrillers and action flicks to comedies and dramas. Elly and I had made it a weekly habit of watching movies together in my dorm our freshman year. When we moved out of the dorms and into our own apartments, the habit had continued at my place. She's the only girl I have ever watched a movie with and truly enjoyed her company. She never bitched about the movie or talked during it. She sat quietly and watched, even if it was a movie she didn't think she'd like or knew she hated. Movie night with her was my favorite thing back in college. Not the parties or the meaningless, drunken hookups with girls I didn't know; just spending time alone with Elly. We'd pick out two movies for a double feature, make a huge bowl of popcorn, and score some alcohol from our older neighbors. When we were finally legal to buy our own, we added beer and whiskey to our movie night menu.

  As I continued shelving movies, I felt nostalgic, and I wished she were here with me. I wanted her rummaging around my kitchen, waiting for the popcorn to finish popping while she drank her beer, and trying to explain to me why we should watch this movie instead of that one.

  I pulled out the copy of Dirty Dancing I bought specifically for Elly and grabbed my phone from the coffee table. I wanted to call her and hear her voice. She had a ritual of watching Dirty Dancing every year on her mom's birthday. I remembered the first time I watched it with her. It was our second semester as freshmen and all of us were going out to a back-to-school party, except Elly didn't want to go. She told us she wanted to stay in for the night. Since I hated the idea of going without her, I stayed in with her. When we got back up to her dorm, though, she told me the real reason she didn’t want to go was that it was her mom's birthday. She told me about her mom and the cancer and we watched her mom's favorite movie. That was the first time I ever saw her cry, and I remembered feeling like someone punched me in the stomach as I held her in my arms and listened to her open up and grieve. She was beautiful even when she cried.

  I took a drink of my beer and scrolled down my list of contacts to her name. I pressed send and waited for her to pick up.

  Please pick up.

  Chapter Eight

  Ellyson

  It was Wednesday night and I was just getting out of the shower when I heard my cell phone ringing from the bedroom. Carter! It could be Carter calling you! Move it, girl! I quickly wrapped up in a towel and attempted to run to my phone before it stopped ringing. Halfway there, I slipped and went crashing to the floor.

  "Shiiiit!" I shouted, lying on the floor. My left knee broke my fall and I knew I'd definitely have a bruise by tomorrow. Stag came running over to me, slipping and sliding across the floor on his paws. He stood over me and started licking my face just as the ringing stopped. I petted his ears and reassured him. "Mommy's okay. I'm okay."

  I got up and pulled the towel tighter around me, then walked into my bedroom and sat on the bed. I picked up my cell and had one missed call from a number not listed in my contacts.

  Carter!

  I dialed him back right away, feeling a little ridiculous for trying to roadrunner my ass out of the bathroom just for a phone call. As I waited for him to pick up, I inspected my injury. Throbbing, swollen, and already turning purple. Good job, Elly.

  "Elly?" he asked, surprised.

  But it was as if he said wingardium leviosa instead and made the butterflies flutter with the sound of his voice; or maybe his voice simply held the key to their cage. "Hey, sorry I missed your call."

  "It's okay," Carter said. "I just … wanted to talk. How have you been? It was good seeing you the other day."

  I sighed. Just hearing him say that made me fall back on the bed with relief. I had to keep believing in the changes I had felt on Monday. It had all changed: the way we looked at one another, the way we acted, the way we spoke. I'd always had feelings for him, but I knew after seeing him on Monday that I couldn't be just his friend anymore. God, I missed him already. "I've missed you." What? Did you just say that to him? Ohmigawd. "Sorry," I laughed, brushing it off, "I didn't mean to make that sound awkward."

  He laughed and my blood pressure dropped. "It's okay. I've missed you, too. What have you been up to? Where do you work?"

  I smiled and took a deep breath. "Well, I'm a therapist, and I have my own clinic now. I really haven't been up to much. Just work. What have you been up to?"

  "Just teaching," he said, nonchalantly. "I was offered a spot in the English Department at NYU and moved back last week. It's nice to finally be back."

  "Yeah, I'm glad you're back, too."

  "I'm glad things are going well for you," he said.

  I nodded even though he couldn't see me. "Thanks. I—"

  "I meant what I said the other day," he interrupted, his voice deeper and more intense than before. "You
look amazing now. Not that you didn't back in college. It's just … you look even better."

  I sat up and leaned against the headboard, smiling at his words and the way he stammered through them. It finally felt like we were on an even playing field—one that had no room for the friend zone. "Thank you," I said, with a light laugh. "I love your stubble. It makes you look older, a little more rugged." His sexy laugh vibrated through the phone, and I had to stop the compliments there or else I'd give him a twenty-minute monologue on why he's so incredibly handsome. I took a deep breath and took Justin's advice. "So, I was wondering if you had plans for Friday night. My friends and I are going out and I'd really love it if you came with us. We usually hang out at this bar called Judge's. We're gonna meet up there for some drinks and then check out the new club Fletcher just opened on 54th. Do you remember Fletcher and Maverick?"

  "Yeah, I saw them at Jones Jym yesterday. Mav's got himself a real nice place there."

  "I know. He's much better off being his own boss than working under someone."

  "So, you want me to come along, huh?"

  "Yeah, I mean, if you want to," I said, biting my lip. I was surprised that asking him out didn't feel awkward. It felt … right. But what I really wanted was some alone time with him. What I really wanted was to feel just how electric his lips would feel against mine when we tasted each other for the first time. My hands wanted to run a marathon over every inch of his beautiful body.

  That's what I really wanted.

  "I'd like that. I need a night out."

  I smiled and kicked my feet up in the air. "I'll text you the address to Judge's. We usually meet up there anytime after work."

  "Sounds good," he said. "What are you doing for lunch tomorrow? Maybe I could bring lunch and we could hang out over our breaks. I wanna see your clinic."

  I smiled and inhaled another deep breath. I loved the feeling of not being in the friend zone anymore. In the past, I played defense in the friend zone with Carter, blocking out any and all attempts to touch down in his end zone and make things awkward; then he moved to a different time zone. I was sick and tired of zones. We were zone-free now. Wait, no, erogenous zones were okay. Erogenous zones were welcomed. We were making plans to see each other and have lunch. We were calling one another and he was using his deep, strong voice at times and his teasing, flirty one at others. He was coming out with us Friday. "Paige usually picks up food for Tessa and me, and the three of us have lunch together, but if you want to, we can—"

  "How about Justin and I bring food for the five of us and we all have lunch together? Then you can give me a tour of the place."

  "That sounds perfect!" I said, wishing I could crawl through the phone and hug him.

  "All right," he chuckled.

  I yawned and was reminded of the time. "I should probably let you go, what with it being a school night and all."

  He laughed and then sighed. "Okay."

  "Good night, Carter."

  "I'll see you tomorrow. Good night, Ellyson."

  He hung up and I slid down into my pillows, replaying our conversation in my head. The way he spoke my full name, his voice deep and intense, exuding an air of significance that never appeared when he called me Elly—as if one were wrapped in innocence and the other dripped with sin—was definitely new. In a matter of three days, his voice had rippled over those three syllables more than it ever did in the past. Changing the way I acted toward him, unmasking my emotions and allowing him in, made it seem like he changed the way he acted toward me, showering me with his attention and revealing parts of himself I'd never seen before. How does that one saying go? If nothing ever changed, there'd be no butterflies.

  Well, there were butterflies all right. A huge, beautiful flock of them.

  Chapter Nine

  Carter

  Elly texted me the following morning to let me know that Paige wouldn't be joining us for lunch because of a work thing, so Justin and I just picked up lunch for the four of us. After we finished eating, we sat around in Elly's lobby watching TV and talking about our long Labor Day weekend a few days away.

  "Do you guys have any plans for the holiday?" Tessa asked. "I kind of wanna go to the beach."

  I shook my head and then looked over at Elly. I was hoping to coordinate my plans with hers. She smiled over at me waiting for my answer. "Not yet."

  "Yeah, same here," Justin answered, turning his attention back to SportsCenter.

  Elly said, "The beach does sound really nice, but I don't know if I'm gonna do anything."

  Before Tessa could talk her into it, the phone in the clinic rang and Tessa excused herself to answer the call. Elly leaned toward me and nudged my arm. "Come on. It's time for your tour."

  I smiled and followed her down the narrow, gray hall, admiring the way her hips swayed as she led the way. My heart beat fast and hard as the barbaric beast within fantasized about hauling her up against the wall and running my hands all along the subtle curves of her body as my mouth feasted on hers. The red of her tight dress contradicted itself today, waving in front me like a flag in front of a raging bull but also warning me of the fact that we weren't alone here; that we were once again in one of our places of employment. Fuck, I want alone time with her. I needed it.

  "This is the office I see patients in. There's a playroom connected to it for my younger patients."

  The room was a typical office with a desk facing a large leather couch. Elly opened the connecting door and led me through to the playroom. Toys were thrown all over the place and a small table and chairs were set up. I suppressed my dirty thoughts and smiled as I imagined her sitting there with children, coloring along with them and listening to them open up to her. She always had a way of making people talk. She led us back out into the hall and started walking toward the lobby, and again my eyes wandered over her body and I breathed in the wonderful citrus scent radiating off of her. She stopped at a door that had her name professionally etched into it in cursive: Ellyson R. Evans, Psy.D.

  "This is my personal office," she explained, holding the door open for me. "It's pretty much like my second home."

  I walked in and admired her second home. My office at the university paled in comparison to hers. She had a large black desk just off of the left wall with two black chairs across from it. Across from her desk hung a flat screen with three sliding doors underneath it.

  "Behind the desk there's a mini fridge," she said, bending over to show off the hidden fridge, but really only showing off her perfect ass. Then she led me over to the door in the corner of the room. "There's a full bathroom in here." She flipped the light on, allowing me a brief moment to take it in, and then flipped it back off again. She walked us over to the cabinets under the TV and slid open three doors, revealing a full closet. "This is my closet. Just in case I'm in a hurry to be somewhere or wanna hit up the gym right after work, I don't have to make a separate trip home just to change." She slid the doors closed again and walked over to her desk.

  I dropped down into one of her chairs and raised my brows as I looked around, appreciating all her hard work. She had her diplomas hung up on the wall along with other awards. Her office alone was impressive, but her clinic as a whole was spectacular. A pang of guilt rose in my throat, reminding me once again of everything I’d missed in her life. I swallowed it all back down and smiled up at her. I didn't want to miss one more second of this beautiful woman's life. "Ellyson, this place is amazing."

  "Thanks," she said, beaming with pride. "My dad helped me find the space, but the rest was all me." She sat on top of her desk, and when her dress slid up her thighs I noticed a black and blue bruise on her knee.

  I leaned forward and caught her heel with my hand. She sucked in a breath, and I stood up and extended her leg slowly to inspect her injury. "What happened to your knee?"

  Her cheeks flushed and she tugged at the hem of her dress. "It's nothing. I just fell yesterday that's all."

  "It's swollen," I said, running my hand up he
r calf, stepping closer to her. The feel of her skin against mine made me feel whole, like hers was the layer I'd been missing my entire life. Her bruise looked like it hurt. She winced, just straightening her leg out. "How did you fall?"

  "I'll ice it when I get home," she said, inspecting it herself and completely ignoring my question.

  "Ellyson, how did you fall?" I repeated firmly. It pissed me off that she was avoiding questions about herself or not going into a lot of detail. I wanted to take care of her for the rest of our lives and she couldn't even answer a question about a bruise. I'm not a mind reader. "Are you sure you don't need to see a doctor?"

  "Yes, I'm sure," she said, smiling. Her eyes caught mine and she sighed. "This guy called just as I was getting out of the shower." I bit back a smile and she shot me a flirty smirk. "On my way out of the bathroom, I slipped and hit my knee on the floor."

  I shook my head, smiling, and she laughed even harder. There's that laugh I love. Loud, full-body, brown eyes glowing, angelic tone. "That bastard."

  "I know," she said, giggling some more. She grabbed my tie and stroked the silky material through her delicate fingers. My dick pressed against my slacks imagining her hand stroking up and down the hard flesh. "He has terrible timing."

  "Oh, yeah?" I asked, inching closer to her. I ran my hands farther up her legs and around her hips, and she scooted closer to the edge of her desk.

  "Yeah." Her big brown eyes heated as she stared back at me. She looked down at my lips and my dick twitched, begging for freedom. She licked her lips and that action alone spurred me further, imagining her back against the cool, smooth surface of the desk with her dress bunched up around her hips and me buried deep inside her. She angled her face, smiling back at me, and ran her hands from my tie up to my neck. "Maybe he could make it all better with a kiss."